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I'm setting up a game document. So far, its all design. About 70 pages total of information that my future team will be able to use to create a game. With that said, I still need to make some sort of programming document so the programmers will know what they are suppose to do. The problem with this is I have no idea what they really do and need help setting up some sort of design document that the programmer will be able to use to his/her advantage when building the game with the rest of the team. Does anyone know of any helpful articles, or have experience with preparing readings for the programmers? I'm assuming there has to be some sort of document for them, but if I'm wrong, I'd like to know! Thanks.

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Personally, when working as a contract programmer, the single most annoying thing is when the client tries to program for me in the project description / other. If anything, it just becomes harder to get an idea of what they really want.

Dunno if that helps.

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no it doesnt really help ahaha. This is a big project and I KNOW if I don't create some sort of plan/document things will be getting out of hand and ill be getting asked too many questions. Its not like a blackjack game, where you tell them the game rules, possible plays the user can do, and what the computer should do with their hand (hit until hard 17). This is MUCH more than a single game.

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Original post by mezner09no it doesnt really help ahaha. This is a big project and I KNOW if I don't create some sort of plan/document things will be getting out of hand and ill be getting asked too many questions. Its not like a blackjack game, where you tell them the game rules, possible plays the user can do, and what the computer should do with their hand (hit until hard 17). This is MUCH more than a single game.

Get your lead programmer to write the technical design for the team, just focus on communicating to him what you want the end result to be and let him worry about the internal design.

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Original post by mezner09no it doesnt really help ahaha. This is a big project and I KNOW if I don't create some sort of plan/document things will be getting out of hand and ill be getting asked too many questions. Its not like a blackjack game, where you tell them the game rules, possible plays the user can do, and what the computer should do with their hand (hit until hard 17). This is MUCH more than a single game.

Get your lead programmer to write the technical design for the team, just focus on communicating to him what you want the end result to be and let him worry about the internal design.

QFT. Writing a document how to program the game implies that you know how to program, which you don't. It's not your job to coordinate the programming, but the technical lead's. You should just ask questions to your technical lead like "is this possible/reasonable?", "can this be done in a reasonable time?".

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As others have said, you want the lead programmer to help turn your design into a technical requirements/spec for himself and the other programmers. The important point here is that your lead programmer needs to be very familiar with the game design, it's a good idea to have them involved in the design process with you as early on as possible. This is a good idea for a couple of reasons:

1) It makes sure you're both on the same page with respect to the overall game design and that there will be fewer misunderstandings between you.

2) The programmer probably has a bettter understanding of technical limitations and will be able to alert you early on to anything in your design that might not be feasible.